Raito's Reflection
by Aokidanza
Summary: "Do you mean to say that you named your reflection?" "That is precisely what I am saying, Raito-kun." Yup. He's lost it.


Raito yawned as he made his way down the winding staircase of the headquarters building, heading into the main floor. As usual, he'd stayed late with Ryuuzaki, more commonly known as L, to review and re-review countless files and papers pertaining to the Kira investigation. With annoyance, he accounted how L never made any other task force member stay late – only him. And L even went so far as to give the pathetic excuse that he 'enjoyed Raito-kun's company' whenever Raito would question it. Yeah, sure. Staring at nonsense scribbled across bright screens until his eyes burned was not at all enjoyable and rather tiring, so Raito came to the conclusion that L just felt like either torturing him for the detective's own amusement, or to test his endurance for some reason. He was leaning towards the former, but either way, he hadn't enough energy to make his way back home. So he slept there. Again. For the fifth night in a row.

Hee rounded the corner to the screen room, he expected to see a few members of the task force standing around the main desk and L sitting in his usual chair, staring up at the screens while messing with some ever-present sweet pastry. Or coffee. Occasionally it was coffee. But he was surprised at what scene faced him that morning. As soon as he came into the room, he saw a giant mirror lining one wall, reflecting his image as he approached. Raito was at a loss for words as his mind scrambled to make sense of the strange object.

He stared at the shining surface in puzzlement, not having the slightest clue as to what L had planned. But, knowing L, it was probably some ridiculous scheme only he knew the reason behind, and it was probably directed towards Raito - More specifically, to proving that Raito was Kira. Of course, it would never succeed, but Raito had to give him points for creativity.

Curiously, Raito tapped at the mirror's surface, looking it over carefully to see if there were any hidden bugs inside it. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. Just a normal mirror.

"Good morning, Raito-kun." The familiar droning voice sounded behind him.

"Ah, Ryuuzaki, what is this?" Raito asked point-blank, not wasting any time with greetings as he turned to face the older man. His expression was blank as always, his hair a complete mess as if he'd just rolled out of bed, his back hunched over like an old man's and his thumb to his lips like a two-year-old. Sometimes the overall appearance of L irked Raito to no end, he just seemed so sloppy; but now was not the time for that. He was much more interested in finding out what weird little plan Ryuuzaki had come up with at six o' clock in the morning.

It was a bit too early for this nonsense.

"It's a mirror, Raito-kun," L replied simply. "I'm sure you spend quite a bit of time in front of one every morning."

_Was that supposed to be an insult? _Raito thought in irritation, rapidly gathering comeback statements in his head, but never voicing them as he shook off the comment and focused on the issue at hand. "I know what it is." he stated calmly. "But why is it here? It wasn't yesterday."

"Watari bought it." L replied. Always with the short answers...

"Why?"

"I asked him to."

"Why?"

"So I could see J."

"What?" Raito responded with yet another question, not expecting such an explanation. Who the hell is J?

L replied by turning to the mirror, then pointing at his own reflection. "J."

"What?" Raito repeated, completely lost. "Ryuuzaki, that's just your reflection..."

"No. It is J." L stated.

"What are you talking about?" Raito asked, bewildered. He knew Ryuuzaki could be a bit... Strange at times, but had never thought of the detective as completely insane. Now, however, he was beginning to change that theory. "Do you mean to say that you named your reflection?"

"That is precisely what I am saying, Raito-kun."

Yup. He's lost it.

Raito blinked at the older man, still puzzled as he tried to contemplate what meaning L must have behind this foolish little trick. It was most definitely a trick, a game – Somehow this would tie together with him being Kira, he knew it. After all, everything L did seemed to be for that sole purpose, for proving he was right. Why was this to be any different?

L gave a slightly bothered roll of his eyes as he turned to Raito, seeming ready to explain. But no words came out of his mouth. Instead, he held up his left hand, sticking out his thumb and forefinger while curling his other fingers against his palm. It made a clear 'L' shape. "L." the raven-haired detective stated.

Raito replied to this with a slow nod, giving L a look that blatantly accused him of being completely out of his mind. But, he supposed he would play along with this charade for now.

L then returned that hand to his side, holding up the opposite one and forming the same shape with his fingers, except with his thumb curled slightly upwards. "J." he announced, blinking at Raito.

Finally, Raito sparked a bit of understanding at what L was getting at. Well, not really... But he now understood this concept at least. "J is L backwards, so it'd be a mirror reflection."

L nodded, then turning back to the mirror, thumb at his lip again as he studied both his and Raito's reflections. Raito, at a loss of what to do with the strangely behaving man, just followed his gaze at the mirror. Then L's eyes set on Raito's reflection for a while, and he spoke.

"What's your reflection's name, Raito?"

"What?" Raito asked in confusion_. _He didn't know what he was expected to respond with to such a question. Who names their reflections? "Well, I've never really given my reflection a name, Ryuuzaki."

"You don't need to." L replied. "Your reflection already has a name."

"Let me guess; the opposite of my name?" Raito inquired, keeping up a politely interested act even though the situation was beginning to annoy him. There better be a point to this. "So it'd be Dark or something?"

"No, no." L said with a slight shake of his head. "It's your name backwards."

"Oh." Raito replied, still trying his best to humor the man with false interest. Maybe L just had a hard night, maybe he was stressed, maybe Raito could give him the benefit of the doubt. But he found it increasingly hard. "Alright then."

"What's your name backwards, Raito-kun? Spell it out. In English."

Raito blinked with surprise at the request, but complied. "O – T – I – A – R." he spelled easily.

"What about your last name?" L questioned further.

Light scrunched up his eyebrows for a second, studying L's innocently curious expression for any hint of reason behind the requests, but soon gave up and answered again. "I – M – A – G – A – Y."

"Now try to pronounce it."

"Uh, Otiar..." Raito said carefully, _"_Imaga—I hate you."

His pronunciation was cut short as he finally realized what L was getting at, bluntly stating the 'I hate you' to let it be known that he was not amused by the childish pun. Raito's voice immediately changed to a flat tone as he gave an annoyed look against the cute little panda smile plastered onto L's face. He could strangle this man. "Is this how you humor yourself, Ryuzaki?"

"Only one of many ways, Imagay-kun."

And thus, Raito came to the final decision that, yes, everything Ryuzaki did was purely to torture him.


End file.
